The No. 9 Blue Devils bounced back just the way they had hoped Saturday and easily disposed of Davidson, 75-47, following their loss to Marquette last Tuesday in the finals of the CBE Classic.
After a Jon Scheyer three-pointer put the Blue Devils up 32-18 with 1:29 left to play in the first half, Josh McRoberts stole the spotlight and effectively ended the contest before it was even halfway over. The sophomore blocked and rebounded a shot by Wildcat Stephen Rossiter, and on the ensuing possession, Gerald Henderson slipped a pass to McRoberts, who emphatically slammed the ball home.
"We responded well," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said of the way Duke came back after its first loss. "We got beat by a good team who was older and tougher than we were in the second half. You learn from that."
McRoberts' dunk was a prime example of both his and Brian Zoubek's ability to score in the post against the smaller Wildcats. McRoberts, along with Jon Scheyer, led Duke's offense with 14 points, and Zoubek chipped in 12 in 17 minutes off the bench.
The Wildcats held Duke in check for the start of the second half, though, attempting to stage an improbable comeback. But after two free throws from McRoberts extended Duke's lead to 16 once more at 50-34, the margin would never get smaller. The Blue Devils continued to surge, pushing the score out to 66-39 with 5:12 to play on the strength of an 18-5 run. Duke showcased its ability to make free throws down the stretch as it made 12-for-14 from the line during the run.
The Blue Devils were once again aggressive on defense, preventing their fourth straight opponent from scoring more than 50 points in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke's athletic players challenged many of the Wildcats' shots, limiting Davidson to a 29-percent shooting night.
"We know that sometimes our offense is going to be there-shots are going to fall, but sometimes they won't," Scheyer said. "But there's no reason our defense can't be there all the time. With all the freshmen, we're all big, athletic guys, and I think we can really be great defensive players. That's what we're trying to do."
In the opening minutes of the game, the same offensive woes that had cost Duke the win against Marquette seemed to be lingering-including 11 turnovers in the first half. Tied with Davidson, 6-6, DeMarcus Nelson scored on a drive five minutes into the game and sparked the Duke offense to life. The Blue Devils began clicking and never looked back, as Nelson nailed a jumper just more than seven minutes later to cap off the 12-2 run that he had started, putting Duke up, 18-8.
After a combined 6-for-17 shooting night in the CBE Classic final, the four freshmen rebounded. Lance Thomas was the only first-year player who failed to score in double-digits, as the underclassmen contributed 40 points to the team's total. After the freshmen combined for just 20 points against Marquette, the Blue Devils were glad to see a better performance from their rookies versus Davidson.
"We were all disappointed coming off the loss," McRoberts said. "A lot of guys played not as well as we would have liked. We wanted to come out and play well tonight."
Even Duke's loss to Marquette was its first defeat before January since the 2003-04 season, the Blue Devils believe they are simply experiencing the growing pains associated with a young but talented squad.
"We wanted to send a message," Scheyer said. "People think we're young and we're not tough. I think we are, and we wanted to come out and prove that."
NOTES:
Head coach Mike Krzyzewski announced after the game that Jamal Boykin is out indefinitely with mononucleosis. The sophomore forward had sat out the two CBE games in Kansas City. "We're going to try to have Jamal finish up the semester academically because it's at the end and then have him get home as soon as possible to recover," Krzyzewski said. "We'll reevaluate his situation when they start the second semester".... The Blue Devils take the court Tuesday night as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge when they play Indiana Tuesday night at 9 p.m.
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